Fan.



D. B. MINOR.

FAN.

APPLICATION FILED D1303 1910 1,014,321, Patented Jan: 9, 1912.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL B. MINOR, OF ST, PAUL, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR TO LESLIE S. HACKNEY,OF

ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA..

FAN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 3, 1910. Serial No. 595,511.,

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, DANIEL B. MINOR, of St. Paul, Ramsey county,Minnesota. have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fans, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to rotary fans of the blast or suction type and theprimary object of the invention is to eliminate the whirring or buzzingsound caused bythe contact. of the air with the fan blades andincidental to the operation of an ordinary fan.

A further object is to provide a fan which will be practically noiselessand adapted for use in the living roomsof the house or in oilices,stores, and other places where an ordinary fan, on account of its noise,could not beused.

The invention consists generally in providing one or more deflectingrings between the fan blades and the airintake.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, Figure1 is a perspective view illustrating my apparatus ready for use, Fig. 2is a detail sectional view through the fan casing and fan, Fig. 3 is asimilar view taken on a sect-ion line at right anglessubstantially tothe section line of Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view showingthe manner of mounting the deflecting rings in the fan casing.

In the drawing, (Fig. 1), I have shown two fan casings, 2 and 3, one forthe intake and the other for the exhaust, with the fans therefor mountedon the same shaft and driven preferably by a motor 4 interposed betweenthe fan casings. These casings have central openings 5, one forming afresh air intake and the other an exhaust and said casings have trunkstiand 7 communicating with suitable air ducts, one trunk directing thefresh air from one fan to the room to be ventilated and the other trunkdirecting the foul air into the casing to be discharged through itsexhaust opening. I thus arrange 8', fresh [air and exhaust fan on thesame 'shaft'and thereby effect a considerable economy in "space overwhat is required when the fans and casings therefor are separately orindependently arranged. I have shown the interior of one casing and.this willv sufiiciently illustrate the invention, as the construction ofthe other fan is 'substantially the same.

8 represents a fan having radial blades 9 arranged at intervals aroundthe periphery of the fan.

10 is a spider having a hub 11 that is securedon a shaft 12 by suitablemeans, said spider and shaft being concentric with the intake opening ofthe casing. I have found that where the air is drawn in this centralopening and strikes the blades obliquely, that a whirring. or buzzingsound will result, which causes the operation of the fan to beexceedingly annoying if located inv a living room, sleeping room orofiice. The

fan blades I have shown are of ordinary construction, corresponding to agreat many fans in general use. To obviate this noise resulting from therevolution of the fan, I provide rings 13 encircled by the fan bladesand at right angles substantiallyto the plane of said blades and mountedon rods 14 having sleeves or thimbles 15. There may be any suitablenumber of these rings, but I have shown three herein. A greater or lessnumber may be used, however, if. preferred. The openings in the rinregister with the inlet opening 5 an when the air enters this inletopening it must-pass between the rings before coming in contact with theblades 'and these rings compel the air currents to move outwardly towardthe blades in a straight line or-along the radial lines of the fan.The-result is that the air currents do not impinge upon the edges of theblades obliquely .but pass between them, following the lanes between therings and cont-acting with the blades squarely and do not produce thehumming or whirring sound usually incident to the operation of a rotaryfan. The efficiency of this device I have proven by the use of theapparatus embodying the invention in full slze. I prefer to make theserings of sheet metal of suitable ga e, but any other material may beused, i preferred, and I may modify the construction of the fan andcasing in various ways and still be within the scope of my invention. Ihave also found in the operation of an ordinary fan or blower that thecurrents of air striking the sharp angle in the wall of the easing atthe exit will produce a sharp, whistling sound similar to a sirenwhistle, this sound being more marked the nearer the fan viate this ,Iarrange a plate 16 within the casing 2 extending from the angle 17 inthe wall to afpoint within the casing forming the chord of the arc whichincludes the wall of the casing between the ends of the plate.

This plate 1s preferably arranged close to the fan blades, as indicatedin Fig. 2,, so that the air currents, instead of striking the sharpangle 17 and producing a whistling sound, will be drawn into the narrowspace between the blades and the plate 16, with the result that the aircurrents will not strike the sharp corner as before and the pressurewill be equalized substantially on each side of this corner and thedisagree able whistling sound will be entirely eliminated. v

I claim as my invention 1. The combination, with a rotary fan havin acentral air lntake, of a ring encircled by said fan blades and lying ina plane at right angles substantially to the plane of said fan.

2. The combination, with a rotary fan having a casing provided with acentral air intake, of a plurality of rings encircled by the blades ofsaid fan and lying in planes at right angles substantially to the planesI of said blades.

3. A rotary fan having a casing and a central air intake and a series 0radial blades, a series of flat rings encircled by Copies of this patentmay be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of?atents,

said blades and spaced apart and having central openings correspondingsubstantially to the airintake opening, and said rings operating todirect the air currents radially into the path of said blades.

1. The combination, with a rotary fan having a central air intake andblades or vanes of uniform width substantially from end to end and aring disposed within the space inclosed by said vanes or blades andlying in a plane at right angles substantially to the planesof saidblades, for the purpose specified.

5. The combination, with a casing, of a rotary fan therein consisting ofside plates and vanes 0r blades located between the outer portions ofsaid plates, said casin having a central air intake and a peripheradischarge, rods passing through said fan plates from side to side and aseries of rings mounted on said rods and inclosed by said fan blades,said rings operating to d1- rect the air currents between said bladesand in a direct-ion parallel substantially with the planes thereof.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 25th day ofNovember 1910.

DANIEL B. MINOR.

Witnesses:

G. E. SORENSEN, C. H, REHFUSS.

' Washington, D. 0.

